The weekend after this one Arsenal visit Stoke for the Sunday lunchtime kick-off where Arsene Wenger’s new-look defence will be put to the test regarding their ability to defend their goal at set pieces and from Rory Delap’s long throw. Stoke’s recent signing of Peter Crouch on the last day of the transfer window means that they are now even more dangerous aerially and they have found Arsenal’s defence wanting when they have used such attacking techniques during past encounters. A lot will depend of Arsenal’s new German centre-back Petr Mertersacker to marshal the defenders around him and keep them organised. Arsenal defenders have share a collective habit of not tracking their runners from free-kicks and corners but they have reportedly been practising this exact skill pre-season so it will be interesting to see if there is any evidence of improvement.
Despite Stoke’s aerial threat and the fact that they are a t home, I would still expect Arsene Wenger’s men to prove too strong for Tony Pulis’ team. Arsenal may have lost Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri during the summer transfer window but they have replaced them with able signings in Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, while they have also added Gervinho to their ranks up front. The player from Cote D’Ivoire may well have made more of an impression during the start of the season were it not for the suspension he served following a scuffle with Joey Barton and consequent red card during Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle United in the second game of their season.
If you are thinking of laying a wager on Arsenal to be victorious in this encounter then I would suggest that you take a look at online betting odds. This is because you can frequently find a far more varied range of odds for sports betting if you look online.
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